Houston is No. 1 seed in first time in tourney
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This year's Big 12 Tournament could be a sign of changing times or a mere blip from the way things usually have been.
In its first season in the new-look league, topranked Houston romped to a regular-season title and the No. 1 seed, giving the Cougars a double bye into the quarterfinals. They capped their run with a 30point win over ailing Kansas, the erstwhile Big 12 power, which fell to the No. 6 seed and will be forced to play a second-round game Wednesday night.
“These conferences, now that we are where we are, would it be better if we didn't play this tournament? Sure. Give us a rest. You risk an injury,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said Monday. “But you know what? A conference tournament is important for everybody. It is important for the fans. It's important for the university. And it's important for the conference.”
It's not as if a title will do the Cougars much good. They are almost a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“Our next game — we've kind of been a next-game team all year long,” said
Sampson, who has experience in the Big 12 tourney from his days leading Oklahoma and whose team could play the Sooners or TCU in the quarterfinal round.
“The only difference now,” he added, “is if you lose, you have to go home.”
Meanwhile, the 16thranked Jayhawks are limping into the tournament without two of their biggest stars. In their 30-point loss to the Cougars on Saturday, big man Hunter
Dickinson dislocated his shoulder — an MRI exam showed surgery won't be needed — while fellow Allamerica candidate Kevin Mccullar Jr. continued to have knee pain.
Jayhawks coach Bill Self said late Monday that Dickinson and Mccullar would be OK for the NCAA Tournament, but neither will play this week in Kansas City. That leaves the Jayhawks, who already were short on depth, without two of their veteran leaders
and most reliable scorers when they step on the floor at T-mobile Center.
“I don't feel great about about the big picture only because I don't know what our health situation is,” Self said. “If we had our five guys and they're all lined up and they're healthy, we can play with anybody, but we're not right now.”
Self is back
Kansas will at least have its coach on the sideline after Self was forced to miss last year's Big 12 tourney when he experienced heart trouble on the eve of the Jayhawks' quarterfinal game. He wound up hospitalized and missed the tournament — Kansas lost to Texas in the finals — and the NCAA Tournament, where the Jayhawks were bounced by Arkansas on the opening weekend.
Bye, bye, bye
Now with 14 teams in the league, four earned byes into the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Cougars topped the list and got the preferred early-afternoon game as the No. 1 seed, while Iowa State earned the No. 2 seed despite losing to Kansas State on Saturday. Baylor received the No. 3 seed, and Texas Tech slipped into the quarterfinals as the No. 4 seed.
Longhorns’ last dance
Texas won its second Big 12 tourney title in three years last season, and that went a long way toward interim coach Rodney Terry getting the full-time job.
Coaching questions
Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton was on the hot seat heading into the Big 12 Tournament; the Cowboys were just 12-19 in the regular season and have made the NCAA Tournament only once in his seven seasons. Oklahoma State lost in the tournament opener, falling 77-62 to Central Florida. Meanwhile, West Virginia could have played for the last time under interim coach Josh Eilert, who took over when Bob Huggins resigned before the season. The Mountaineers lost 90-85 to Cincinnati in the other first-round game.